11

*Bang! Bang! Bang* Gunshots rang out from a bar's back door.

"Oye! Who's stupid enough to make such a racket!" A man with gold glasses complained, followed by an underling.

"Brother Kun, it seems to Wang Heng's people. They were seen last night carrying a guy."

The man responded coldly after hearing Wang Heng's name. "The idiots, so loud, they are courting death..."

Moments later, a group of people appeared near Brother Kun. Another man flanked with two grunts walked with a smirk and a dark expression.

"Idiot? Courting death? Wu Chang Kun cursing so loudly, aren't you the one seeking death?" The gangster smiled with hands folded behind his back and ambled over to Brother Kun.

Wu Chang Kun's eyes sharpened behind his glasses and responded with a chilling smile. "Brother Wang, this young one doesn't understand your words."

"Doesn't matter, after today you won't need to understand." Once said, Wang Heng thrust out his hand palm up where a fireball appeared to the others shock.

Ability! He had an ability! No wonder he could act so unscrupulously.

"Explode!"

"Kuh!"

A lightning bolt blocked the fireball attack. The originally confident Wang stepped back and looked at Wu Chang Kun. The latter's mouth curved into a smirk.

"Such a pity Brother Wang, you didn't think that fortune only smiled upon you?"

"Third dormitory building cleared!"

"Fourth squad assembled!"

"Cleaning up the canteen..."

"Reporting in, wounded soldiers have been moved to the west side of the square. Send medical personnel to help!"

A uniformed man stood frowning out a window, glancing at a dormitory floor through a telescope.

"What's the status? How many people have become...those things?"

"The report states 33 have been killed, more than 10 people bitten and more than 30 have been injured."

"33 people..." The man pondered when someone else burst inside.

After entering the soldier saluted. "Commander, the army has found dozens of people with superpowers! Enhanced strength, hearing and eyesight!"

The commander's eyes brightened, earlier those discovered with any powers were quarantined by the army. They were worried that the people would become zombies but a few hours later they were still fine. Even more surprising, the soldiers had supernatural abilities!

"First find a way to observe these people after release. Team making..." The commander had not finished speaking when another person interrupted.

"Reporting! More than 10 army dogs have gone insane and wild! The symptoms match those bitten! They are faster and harder to capture or kill!"

The television channels were looping through reruns of last night. The daily morning news had not been aired yet. The radio was full of static and only received channels that looped music. Luo Xun surveyed with a telescope and Puppy in his arms.

Towards the southeast, he could see and army wall in the distance, the main force of the southwest base. They were likely currently dealing with army zombies, the other regiment was further away.

Luo Xun remembered that the army had expanded, rescued people and collected equipment. There was an arms factory nearby, though Luo Xun did not know the exact location. He knew with the factory, the southwest base was self-sufficient in terms of weaponry unlike other bases.

To the south there were few buildings, mostly just fields. It was more urban to the north with high skyscrapers to the northwest. Finally to the east there was a large flower field and cottage area.

Luo Xun returned to his bedroom and looked at the entrance gate. The majority of people dared not leave even if they felt that something was not right. At this time, a few had crept downstairs to go and collect resources.

A scream pierced the silence, Luo Xun saw a screaming 20-30 year old lady followed by a man of similar age – a young couple. A nearby zombie staggered toward the two.

It had been a long time since Luo Xun had seen this sort of scene. A lady's screams were sometimes more lethal than a roaring zombie.

In the apocalypse, every woman was a treasure and must be protected. Later there was a popular joke – during doomsday there were no dinosaurs, all women were beautiful.

Since women were so scarce, any good looking ones were long picked up by those with means. Ordinary people wanted but were unable to see. Any who managed to marry and bring home a wife would have burned incense to Buddha in thanks.

Luo Xun's brain jolted seeing the screaming woman constantly slicing at the zombie with a kitchen knife. Little by little, the zombie was whittled away and fell to the ground. The lady continued screaming and hacking away.

...Luo Xun took it back, women were not weak, perhaps sometimes even more frightening than men. The man had collapsed in fear upon seeing the zombie until the woman had chopped it into pieces.

She turned around, the man retreated half a step. She said something before the two hurried to a car and drove away. Due to the screaming, people peeked outside to find that others had left. The screams attracted the attention of both people and zombies. Zombies slowly came out while a portion of people prepared to drive out. Some even came face to face with a zombie.

There were a number of zombies inside Luo Xun's building, particularly on the 14th floor. Five or six had escaped and were wandering around. Luo Xun was not worried about them coming to the 16 th floor because primary zombies could not

climb stairs.

Zombies were corpses, their joints could bend but were stiff. It would be difficult for them to bend their legs for each step. However not climbing stairs did not mean not heading downstairs. In fact, they were very fast at descending stairs.

Their speed was incomparable to mortals since as long as the brain was intact, the zombies could shake off broken limbs and other injuries and fall to the next level. After hearing the woman's screams, the dead bodies were declared enemies that had gathered together. Luo Xun heard screams, smashing and car engines.

Humans were very adaptable, especially in such a situation. Thanks to modern culture the majority of people had heard of zombies from films, television, novels and games even if one was not interested. The zombie's weakness was the head and their bites triggered infection.

Nothing much, one just needed to remember these two points to deal with primary zombies. A zombie's face was mostly gray and green, very different from the original person. Killing would leave a stain on the heart but in order to survive, everyone could steel themselves against the dead.

Half the wandering zombies in the area were wiped out. Luo Xun applauded the adaptability and courage of the people and mused to himself. Should he help clean up?

Wang Jung district was where he planned to live in the future. The military would send someone sooner or later but the sooner the zombies were gone, the more secure everyone would be. There would be increased peace and a reduced chance of death.

He would be in danger if one of the primary zombies evolved into mid or high level. As he was pondering, the sound of barking carried over from the gate. Luo Xun hurriedly looked through the telescope as a few stray dogs leapt over the entranceway.

Although he was unsure if the dogs were undead or not, there was no doubt that the situation was more dangerous than expected.

12

*Swish, thud* The zombie crumpled.

Luo Xun sighed, stepped forward to kick open the zombie's skull and removed the arrow from the rotten remains. He did not want to resort to such disgusting methods but he did not have enough ammunition to lose even one arrow. Until he could stockpile arrows, he could not waste ammo.

Today was the 30th, the third day of the apocalypse. Earlier this morning, Luo Xun saw army squads heading towards the city from his terrace. Since they were going out to help, the zombies inside the army had been cleared up. Luo Xun estimated that everyone's life would improve if the military managed to establish a safe zone in the southwest area within half a month.

He had been secretly dealing with the local wandering zombies for the past two days since the less the better. Other than the zombies locked in the houses, Luo Xun had killed most of the wandering zombies.

Of course he had only cleared building 7 and the two beside it. Any further he ignored to not let people notice anything strange. He was just a regular citizen, doing this was within his capabilities. Even with tools he was not so naïve or kind to be on the vanguard eliminating zombies.

His past experiences made him wary of zombies, mutant animals as well as those with unclear motives. Luo Xun headed towards the 7th floor after kicking the dead zombie. Yesterday night he had heard car engines as people fled the district. The sky was dark so Luo Xun did not know the specifics. This morning the number of zombies had decreased, likely lured away by those who had fled.

Those people probably left a bunch of cars in the area. Fortunately there were no other cars parked in his building, Luo Xun should be able to avoid contact with any neighbors. He walked down the hall and found the elevator light had gone dark.

Blackout? It had finally occurred?

Luo Xun was surprised then wryly smiled, he did not know if his luck was good or bad, If he had been inside the elevator when the power was cut he would have been stuck in the middle. There would be some risk even if he knew how to escape from an elevator.

The danger was gone, but he should climb up to the 16th floor, to safety with lighting. With the power outage, it was time to test his level of physical fitness!

Although Luo Xun had gone through the building multiple times, he remained cautious and vigilant with his crossbow. He vaguely heard zombies knocking in a nearby room when he passed a floor. The construction company many have been stingy on lightbulbs and pipes but the doors were sturdy.

Luo Xun's anti-theft door had not changed even when the landlord had been replaced. Before the apocalypse, Luo Xun had counted the number of building occupants. Excluding furnished homes without inhabitants there were only 5 occupied homes not including Luo Xun. Two were being furnished by workers.

Luo Xun cautiously ascended one floor at a time then jerked up the crossbow when he reached the 15th floor. There was someone there!

A man fell from the stairs towards him, he seemed to have fainted while climbing. From behind, it seemed like the man was not breathing.

Luo Xun strafed to the corner of the platform and aimed the crossbow at the brain. His memory was not the best but he at least remembered recent events. The building had five others, he killed three zombies in the corridor and the remainder had long since gone downstairs to wander.

Killed 3, one on the 5th floor, one on the 3rd floor, the last had been killed nearby. He had not killed any zombies in this floor stairwell!

Last night a car had appeared in the area, he must be one of those people. Luo Xun was not sure why he was here alone though, there was no parking under the building. He must have been separated from his companions after entering the area.

Now the man was on the ground, injured and on the brink of death!

Luo Zun grabbed his mace, slowly approached and poked the man's leg. Although he had made the bat more deadly, it was only lethal when swung. As long as the nails did not break skin, it should not hurt anyone.

Luo Xun prodded the man twice with no reaction. He raised an eyebrow and guessed that the man had died due to means unrelated to zombies. He paused then took two steps forward, bat raised when suddenly the man groaned.

He was alive! Luo Xun felt conflicted. The man was alive and not a zombie which was good, but a living person also caused problems. He also did not see the wounds, were they from a zombie?

Wondering, Luo Xun tried to turn the man over with his bat. The man rolled over, confused but lucid. He opened his eyes and suddenly remembered what had happened yesterday. The man's eyes flashed and he touched his back to metal. The guard rail along with the bat nails converged to form a spear, the metallic point faced Luo Xun.

Metal powers? The thought flashed through Luo Xun's mind.

"I am a human!" He hurriedly backtracked.

The man propped himself up and narrowed his eyes. He was obviously not relaxed and wore a bloodied mask with a recently scarred head wound. He held a hand to his chest, perhaps an injury with internal bleeding not from zombies.

Luo Xun's heart sank as he took in the man's appearance, his current state was likely caused by former companions. Luo Xun would rather deal with a zombie than a man with no trust in fellow humans! Luo Xun had died because of an ability user in his past life!

"I am a tenant in the building, the power was cut and you are blocking the stairs." Luo Xun's voice was dry, he was so unlucky.

He was an ordinary person who did not want to be an enemy of any ability users. There was nothing else he could do for now but be polite.

Hearing Luo Xun's words, the man squinted and said in a hoarse voice. "Lay down the weapon and take off the helmet."

...Oh, he had forgotten that in order to avoid contact with zombies, Luo Xun wore a long raincoat, boots, helmet, rubber gloves and long sleeve clothing. All were professional grade water-proof equipment.

How could the man not be vigilant against a suspiciously fully clothed, masked person! Luo Xun silently dropped the bat and crossbow. He would not dream of taking on an ability user even if he could try a sneak attack.

The person obediently removed the helmet to reveal a young, quiet face wearing a strange poncho. Yan Fei's mouth quirked, there was too much contrast between the man's face and appearance. He could not trust others after getting betrayed yesterday.

The person looked a bit older than 20, nothing too striking. Children of higher families were generally more mature and needed to excel at concealing their emotions. The young face seemed genial enough.

22 year old Luo Xun's student face was deceptive and ambiguous. Especially considering his past life, only a sliver of anger and discomfort showed on his face.

13

"What floor do you live on?"

"...16th floor." Luo Xun could not lie to this strong potential neighbor.

"Your clothes..." Yan Fei could not think of an adjective to describe Luo Xun's strange outfit.

Luo Xun puffed out his chest. "It was recommended online to wear because zombie bodily fluid could also infect people. Should be right since the internet said so!"

He had experienced it himself, but people were very imaginative. All sorts of information could be found on the internet.

Online? People could still access the internet? Yan Fei had thought all power was down since no one answered any calls. He was surprised since he had been struggling to cope with the changes.

"Of course, the power station is functional." Luo Xun nodded.

"If the call didn't go through, maybe the person on the other end was in an accident?"

There had been many accidents so the police line got swamped, along with taking into account all the zombie transformations.

Yan Fei's eyes shone and he remained silent. Luo Xun felt he should not bring this guy into his home. Then he thought of the man's metal powers, maybe they could reach a mutually beneficial agreement?

Luo Xun's heart pounded, the man's ability was powerful! Although he had never heard of any powerful metal users on base in his previous life, metal powers were useful to oneself and others during the apocalypse.

Before Luo Xun worried about his small amount of ammo but if there was a metal user then the number of crossbow bolts would be inexhaustible! Not to mention a whole bunch of other things, maybe even a bomb!

Luo Xun had never heard of the man but that did not mean he was unknown. His knowledge came primarily from propaganda for gang recruitment. The real powerful ability users were unknown to the general public.

Some ability users were sheltered by the army after discovery so they did not mingle with regular people. If the man was really powerful than Luo Xun naturally would not know of him. Moreover many ability users were killed for various reasons at the start of the apocalypse.

If one could secure good dealings with such a benefactor then one could have a long term continuous supply of weaponry in the future. Luo Xun's heart raced and his gaze burned with desire.

Yan Fei subconsciously touched his mask in reaction to the other's gaze. Could the person see his face through the mask? Yan Fei was fully aware of how attractive he was but not now while he was wearing a white face mask, bloodied with unkempt hair.

Was this person still in puberty? He raised his hand and the metal shifted, snapping Luo Xun from his thoughts.

The metal user had limitless potential. Luo Xun may have been reborn but he could not force the man to stay and any help would not be guaranteed reciprocation. However he could sow the seeds of goodwill and reap profits in the future.

"There are some empty homes upstairs." Luo Xun suggested since he had too much to hide to let a complete stranger live with him.

Yan Fei loosely nodded, he had hidden in this building and slowly climbed since he was currently not a match for his pursuers.

"Yes, those things, could you put them back? Otherwise the stairs are useless." Luo Xun referred to the floating weapons.

The steel rods returned and the nails fell to the ground. The staircase seemed sturdy but Luo Xun was worried since the handrails had been temporarily removed. Yan Fei's injury was quite serious, he had a strong constitution to have somehow climbed up while coughing blood, though he could not walk at the moment. Luo Xun grabbed his stuff ready to help the man.

"My home is at the end of the hall, the other three are empty and these three have no owners, peephole or furnishings."

After a brief overview of the floor, Yan Fei pointed to the room next to Luo Xun. Even if the guy had bad intentions, it would be easier to live next door since he needed to rely on the other for now.

Yan Fei raised an eyebrow when Luo Xun brought out a bunch of small tools to skillfully open to door to room 1603. The apartment room walls were rough with cement residue and without paint. In their thin clothes, both Luo Xun and Yan Fei shivered.

Empty room, kitchen, bedroom, living room, uninstalled pipes and air conditioning. Even with some things, definitely not warm! Yan Fei sighed, if he had known about such a strange event he would have bought several furnished homes in the suburbs.

He sat on the floor and heard barking, there was a dog next door? Thinking of the crazy dogs on the road Yan Fei tensed, then relaxed. That person was cautious, he would not stay here if the dog was rabid.

Upon relaxing, Yan Fei felt dizzy as everything began to blur. He was not sure if this was caused by blood loss, starvation or lack of rest...

Luo Xun returned home and Puppy perked up from inside her cage. He dragged his tired body to prepare milk and dog food. In the building only the penthouse and corner homes were equipped with a terrace so Luo Xun's home had a different layout – the living room was ridiculously large.